Mark "Bomber" Thompson tells Essendon he won't be caretaker coach next season

THE fallout from the Essendon drugs saga could still claim senior assistant coach Mark Thompson, who today revealed he would not replace James Hird in the top job next season.

Thompson said he is no certainty to remain at Windy Hill next year as the Bombers now cast their net to find an interim coach to replace Hird, who was suspended for 12 months by the AFL Commission.

"I wouldn’t say it’s 100 per cent (that I’ll be at Essendon next year). It just depends on who they select as coach and where they see me fit, if I do. I certainly want to help the club if they think I can help," Thompson told Fox Footy's AFL 360.

The two-time Geelong premiership coach said the Bomber players deserved a senior coach "who will be fully into it".

"They deserve the best chance they’ve got of playing their best footy. I feel better, but I’ve still been through a tough year. A really tough year," he said.

"We felt so lonely inside our own club, so it’s taken a lot out of me."

Thompson texted Bombers chairman Paul Little shortly after Hird accepted his ban, declaring he would lead the club in 2014.

But he said as reality set in he realised he was not the man.

"That (text) was just a hanger. I was going to go out and we’re going to win as many games as we can, we’re going to get the support behind us, we’re going to just show the AFL.

"And it’s taken a big toll. I didn’t even think I was involved in this ASADA thing and then … the circumstances got pretty ugly.

Thompson told chief executive Ray Gunston and football director Chris Heffernan the interim senior coaching role was not for him.

It’s still to be determined what role Thompson will play next year, and there’s a small possibility he might take time off from the game.

"I don’t think I want to do it, let someone else do it,"’ Thompson told the Herald Sun this afternoon.

"I think it might be a bit too much at this stage."

Thompson was fined $30,000 for his role in the Essendon supplements scandal and admitted last week he was struggling with the AFL-imposed outcome.

Thompson is currently completing season-ending reviews for Essendon and will assist recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro at the national draft.